The Scotland (SC) Branch of the IHBC hosted a round-table session at the Scotland’s Towns Conference in Paisley on 19 November, where it explored ‘a positive future for our historic buildings’ at one of the biggest events of its type in Scotland.
The day was introduced by Minister for Local Government & Planning, Derek Mackay MSP, while running the IHBC Branch ‘Drop in’ table discussion were volunteers Deborah Mays, CEO of The Heritage Place, and Alison McCandlish, IHBC’s NewsBlogs consultant and CEO of Crenellated Arts. IHBC member Dennis Rodwell also hosted a ‘Drop in’ session on ‘The Importance of & Tools for Cross-Cutting Community Engagement’.
Conference discussions encompassed topics as diverse as:
- Heritage funding
- Training for apprentices
- Procurement processes
- Careers in heritage
- ‘New uses for old buildings’
- How Local Authorities can work with the community
- Membership routes in IHBC
- Specification of quality materials for public realm work
- Re-use of historic buildings
- Community ownership of historic properties
- Good practice (and bad practice!) examples
- The role of urban regeneration companies in historic towns
Alison McCandlish said: ‘It was a great opportunity to showcase the work of the IHBC and its members and promote discussion on the positive role which the historic environment plays in the life of our towns and cities. The conference itself was a wonderful chance to find out about projects locally, nationally and internationally, all in one place, from practitioners who were representing the business community, Local Authorities, private consultants, academics, artists and creative industries, project funders and much more.’
Deborah Mays, highlighting the importance of the conference’s drive to make a difference in town centres by looking at issues beyond retail, said: ‘The importance of the character of the environment in contributing to the socio- economic life of towns, and the cultural offering available were highlighted across the day. This clearly demonstrated the importance of history and heritage in a town’s viability, a point emphasised across the IHBC’s research and publications, not least its advocacy paper on ‘The value of heritage’.
View the full programme for the day
View the PechaKucha presentation on the cultural development of Paisley using a cultural led regeneration approach (delivered by Gayle McPherson and Graham Jeffrey)
View more information about Behind the Finish Line project and its partners, as well as its role in helping re-use and regenerate vacant and under-used spaces
Find out more about Impact Arts
View information and a video about the Young Gallery
Springboard’s swift and affective anaylsis of marketing patterns.
Dowload the IHBC publication ‘Valuing historic places’
